Reflectance spectra of terrestrial barites conducted in the Planetary Emissivity Laboratory (PEL)

Abstract

The most important source for barite on Earth is often associated to sedimentary exhalative sulfide deposits (SedEx) and volcanic environments generated by hydrothermal activity. BaSO4 is also related to epithermal deposits in volcanic rocks and is a common gangue mineral in veins and fractures due to wall rock alteration [1]. Thus, these minerals often reflect close environmental compositions and are therefore interesting for the understanding of volcanogenic and hydrothermal activity on terrestrial planets. In this study, we present our first results of selected samples from an ongoing spectral and geochemical investigation on barium sulfates (barite minerals, provided by Deutsche Baryt-Industry, Bad Lauterberg). We analyzed our samples with bidirectional reflectance measurements conducted in the Planetary Emissivity Laboratory (PEL) at the German Aerospace Center (DLR) in Berlin, Germany.